Our Farm
Glynwood understands the challenges and opportunities confronted by farmers in the Northeast. We farm 250 acres of land in the Hudson Valley – 125 acres of which are on our own site— where we test, innovate, and teach techniques that demonstrate the economic viability of environmentally sustainable farming. Glynwood Farm is a real-world model of farming practices that seek to optimize production while operating as an ecological unit. We strive to use resources efficiently by melding various, intertwined enterprises. The farm is also a model of adapting old farmland—whose traditional uses are no longer economically viable – to new market opportunities.
The Farm’s Heritage
Glynwood Farm’s heritage stretches back to the 1700s. For much of its history, the farm specialized in dairy, and for some time Glynwood milk was ferried across the Hudson River to supply the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Like most farms of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Glynwood’s operations were also diversified to include beef, lamb, pork, eggs, fruit, and vegetables.
Why the Glynwood Farm Model
If Glynwood is to fulfill its mission of helping communities in the Northeast save farming, their farmers must be able to succeed in the marketplace. As experienced farmers seek new market opportunities, as young farmers enter their new vocation, and as landowners— including land trusts and conservancies—contemplate returning their dormant farmland to production, they need models for economically viable and environmentally sustainable farming.
Farmers in the Northeast are presented with a rapidly growing and evolving market that increasingly emphasizes freshness and high quality. These demands favor streamlined distribution, often directly from farmer to purveyor, and increasingly from farmer to consumer in a variety of direct marketing methods. The demand for quality—especially among specialty purveyors—increasingly emphasizes varieties not commonly found in supermarkets, and growing and harvesting methods that are organic and humane. Above all, the many niches in the region’s farm market necessitate farming and distribution methods that are readily adaptable to changing opportunities and demand. Farmers need models for how to succeed in this market.
In addition, rapidly rising costs for petroleum-based fertilizer and pesticides, and for gasoline to power farm machines and transport produce to market, necessitate cost-effective alternatives to large- and industrial-scale farming models. For the region’s small and mid-sized farms to achieve long-term economic viability, models are also needed that demonstrate how to enhance soil and conserve water resources.
About Glynwood Farm
Energy Efficient Farming
Glynwood Gardens
Native Plants
Glynwood CSA
Mid-Hudson CRAFT
